Last week Nachikaet started his first
entreprenuerial venture. After finding out that he was the only 'incomeless'
person in the house, (he took a few hours to digest the information that his
mother actually gets paid to write the weird stuff that she writes) he decided
to assess his financial condition. After a few hours of reviewing his options
and contemplating everything from walking the neighbor’s dog to breeding fishes,
he decided that in order to have a "steady" source of income he would
start his own business, become his own boss. That was how "Hello
library" was born.
Using his ample collection of
books as a “start up capital” Hello library was launched. It was inaugurated by
well, Nachikaet himself. Then it was time for some aggressive marketing strategies.
It sure was aggressive. Nachikaet coaxed and cajoled and threatened all of us including
our live in help, who considers all of us “readers”, missing a piece or two in
the upper storey. So as a result of his “effective” marketing strategies, Nachikaet
gained three “life members” for his library. His dad, mom and the above
mentioned hapless house help.
In order to ensure strict quality
control, a register was made with all the details of the transactions. The reading fee was set at Rs 5 per book. Transactions
would be made strictly during business hours only. Every care was taken to
ensure that the business hours would not clash with his TV time or play time. Special
discounts were allowed for customers who would come during his study time.
After a couple of days, Nachikaet
decided that we were not spending enough time reading, and issued a declaration
that each of us will have to read a minimum of 4 books in a week. (He couldn’t
stand it if his parents were not well read) The business soon began to flourish
and the arrival of his grandparents was an added bonus. His grandparents were
subjected to a lecture session on the perils of not reading books and last
heard, his grandfather has enough Tinkle comics to last him the rest of his
life and his grandmother still has nightmares about the countless aliens in the
Ben 10 books she is forced to read.
And as for the little business
tycoon in the making he has decided to ‘go public’ with his venture by inviting
his neighborhood friends to join the library. Here are some visuals
 |
Hello Library timings
An inside view |
| The first life member |
Keeping perfect accounts |
| Let the money flow |
Library register
